Doctor of the Year
Doctor of the Year is the sixteenth episode of Out of Practice. Plot Ben and Lydia come back in after a game of doubles tennis. Lydia says it was a low blow to hit every ball to the weaker player. Ben figures out that she means him. She says she needs to shower before going to the hospital and asks if she can cut in front of him. He tells her she's been doing it all morning. He calls out to her that he's going to run down the hall to get his laundry. A dog loudly barks. Oliver comes out of the bedroom and yells at the dog to stop barking. Oliver, thinking Ben's in the shower, goes to ask if he's talked to the super about the dog barking. He screams when he sees that it's Lydia. Ben comes back in and tells him their mom's in the shower, but it's too late. Ben says it's usually a sign of something if you sneak a peek at mommy. Oliver pulls a thong out of the laundry and Ben doesn't know where it came from. He grabs it and goes to take it back to the laundry room, but when he opens the door, a woman is there. She used the dryer before him. She takes her thong and goes to leave, but Oliver invites her in. She introduces herself as Allison. When Oliver says his name, that triggers her memory and she asks if he works at St. Ambrose Hospital because Dr. Barnes from St. Ambrose hospital is one of the top Doctors of the Year. Lydia comes out of the bathroom and she and Oliver agree that it never happened as she leaves in a hurry. Regina comes into the diner and see Stewart sitting in there, watching the newsstand outside the door. She says he's there early, but he's there for the same reason she is. They're waiting for the magazine to come in. She says she's actually getting off a night shift and doesn't care about the magazine. Stewart groans and Regina thinks the magazine's there, but Stewart actually sees Jack Arbogast, his old nemesis. He goes to say hi and re-introduce Regina. Jack's just starting back at St. Ambrose. They agree to have lunch and Jack leaves. Stewart says he doesn't want to talk about it, so Regina goes to leave, but Stewart stops her. 30 years ago, there was a great job in Boston. Jack knew Stewart wanted it, but he swooped in and grabbed it. Oliver comes in and he's also waiting for the magazine. He's sure it'll be him. Lydia and Ben come in and Ben says he doesn't understand why they have to stop at the diner when there's coffee at the hospital. When he sees the others, he suddenly understands. He calls them out on the list being so important to them. Stewart says whoever wins, it's award for the whole family. Regina says it'll be either her or Lydia. When Stewart glares, she adds him. Oliver than does the same thing. Lydia says whoever wins, they'll support her. Tony then comes in and drops off the magazines. They rush to grab them, but Lydia says they shouldn't let the award eclipse a truly great achievement, that they're all successful doctors. Ben reminds them that he's there too. They start to look and Stewart says whoever wins, they'll be good sports. They are not gloaters. However, when Regina announces that he won, he immediately starts gloating. At the hospital, Stewart is receiving lots of praise. Ben comes in and asks Regina and Oliver, who are watching their dad, if they're ready for lunch. He also asks if they think Stewart will want to come with them. Ben wants them to lay off him, but Oliver says if he were shining any brighter, they need welder's masks. It's bad enough that they have that dog barking, keeping them up all night. Ben talked to the super and got the woman's number. He wants to leave a nice message, but Oliver grabs the phone and leaves an angry message. Lydia tells Stewart she needs to talk to him. He also needs to talk to her. Crystal's throwing him a party. He says it's not a big deal and doesn't even know what she's planning. Just then, Crystal runs in and tells him the baker can't do what he wants for the party. Lydia says she has a date. He says to bring the date. She tries to say more, but Stewart spots Jack. Jack congratulates him and Stewart invites him to the party. Lydia tells Stewart that Jack is her date. They had dinner together and now they're going to come to the party together, which Stewart reluctantly says is okay. Lydia and Jack leave to go to lunch together. Crystal comes back and asks if there's anything else he wants for his party. He suggests and assassin. Ben comes in and Oliver wonders where he's been. They're going to be late for the party. He was talking to Allison from before. He's invited her to the party. Neither of them has a date. Stewart comes in after the champagne he left in their fridge, but Ben offers to get it from him. While he's gone, Regina and Oliver cook up a plan to knock Ben off his perch. They tell Stewart they are looking forward to his party. He was too until Lydia invited Jack. They're confused about why he's so upset over a job from 30 years ago. He takes the champagne and leaves. Ben wonders why he's so upset about Jack and Regina mouths to Oliver to follow her. Regina makes up a story about Lydia cheating on Stewart with Jack. They insinuate that Jack is actually Ben's father. Ben says they were three and five, so how would they even remember? Regina and Oliver say that their parents fought about it for years. Not in front of Ben, but there's a reason for that. Ben says it won't work and leaves. Regina says it's already working. Jack's telling a story about a patient at the party. Everyone is listening to him. The door bell rings and Stewart lets his kids in. Oliver spots a beautiful woman and asks about her. It's Elizabeth. She always stops him in the lobby to play with Monty. Oliver takes Monty with him to hit on her. Allison comes in and Lydia introduces Jack to her and Ben. Lydia asks Regina if she remembers the cabin their two family's used to rent when they were little. Ben wouldn't remember because he was just a gleam in his father's eye. That makes Ben nervous. A waiter comes by with a tray and offers it to them. Lydia tries some, but Jack is allergic to scallops, just like Ben. Allison confesses to Ben that she put her things in his dryer just to meet him. He's distracted by the Jack thing, so when she says she's a loser, he casually agrees with her. Jack asks Lydia if she ever imagined all those years ago that they'd be dating. She says no. He says he just got a message from another doctor. The other doctor will cover for him in the morning so they can make it as late a night as they want. Lydia says he said he'd have to take her home early, an offer he says still stands. He leaves, taking their empty glasses, and Regina sits down. She says things are going well. It's their third date. Lydia tells her not to be vulgar. Regina figures out she's nervous. She could end up in bed with Jack. It's been a long time since that's happened. Ben overhears and is bothered yet again. Allison tells Ben she broke up with her last boyfriend last summer. She always thought he was ignoring her. Ben is still distracted and says that's great. Oliver is playing with Monty on the floor. Elizabeth says it's nice to see a man who likes dogs. Her grandmother just got the nastiest phone message from some jerk about her dogs barking. Oliver fakes a British accent to talk to her so she won't know he's the one who left the message. Crystal comes in and Stewart asks where she's been. She says she has a cold. She wonders why he made her wear such a skimpy dress on such a cold night. He pulls her over to introduce her to Jack. She tells him not to shake her hand because she doesn't feel well. He continuously tries to flirt with her until Stewart pulls her toward the kitchen. She stops when she hears Oliver speaking in a British accent and uses one of her own. the phone rings, so Crystal goes to get it. Oliver invites Elizabeth down to his apartment so they can talk more. Crystal tells Stewart it was the pianist on the phone. His car broke down so he can't make it. Jack plays piano, so he sits down and starts playing and singing. At his apartment, Oliver gets Elizabeth a drink. The phone rings, but he doesn't answer it. When the machine comes on, it plays his voice and Elizabeth rushes out. Jack has the whole crowd at the party singing along. Stewart tries to stop his show. Lydia says he's being rude, but Stewart says Jack betrayed him. Ben overhears that and Regina plays it up, scaring Ben even more. In the kitchen, Regina tells Stewart that Jack's a really good pianist. He's still upset. He confesses that he knows he's being petty. He feels like he's in Jack's shadow. He sometimes thinks that if they'd met Lydia at the same time, she'd have chosen Jack. He's lucky he met Lydia three months before Jack. And got her pregnant. Regina says she's never known her mom not to go for exactly what she wants. If she'd wanted Jack, she'd have gotten Jack. Regina says they all get jealous sometimes, but they don't always have what he has. Stewart wants her to give a toast saying that later. Oliver comes back in without Elizabeth and talks to Regina about Ben. She suggests that they tell him before he completely blows it with Allison. Allison is telling Ben another story. Jack passes him, saying, "Excuse me, son," which derails him again and he screws it up again. Allison says she hopes he enjoyed seeing her underwear the other day because he won't be seeing it again and she leaves. He tries to stop her, but it's futile. Jack asks if Lydia wants to go back to his place. She says she wants to say goodnight first. In the kitchen, Oliver is pouring a drink. Lydia comes in jittery. He figures out why she's nervous. It's been a while for her. She doesn't know what he's expecting or if she'll measure up. He tries to compliment her, but she stops him. Then she lets him continue and he says that when he first walked in on her in the bathroom, he thought Ben had a girl over. She has nothing to worry about. Jack peeks in to get her. She's ready to leave. She peeks back in to tell Oliver she's prefer that he not tell anyone about that conversation, but he doesn't know anyone he'd tell. Cast 1x16BenBarnes.png|Ben Barnes 1x16ReginaBarnes.png|Regina Barnes 1x16OliverBarnes.png|Oliver Barnes 1x16Crystal.png|Crystal 1x16StewartBarnes.png|Stewart Barnes 1x16LydiaBarnes.png|Lydia Barnes 1x16JackArbogast.png|Jack Arbogast 1x16Allison.png|Allison 1x16Elizabeth.png|Elizabeth 1x16DrAndrews.png|Dr. Andrews 1x16Tony.png|Tony Main Cast *Christopher Gorham as Ben Barnes *Paula Marshall as Regina Barnes *Ty Burrell as Oliver Barnes *Jennifer Tilly as Crystal *Henry Winkler as Stewart Barnes *Stockard Channing as Lydia Barnes Special Guest Star *James Naughton as Dr. Jack Arbogast Guest Starring *Deanna Wright as Allison *Andrea Bogart as Elizabeth Co-Starring *Eric Payne as Dr. Andrews *DJ Nash as Tony Notes and Trivia *This episode was produced as the twentieth episode, but is listed as the sixteenth. Gallery 1x16-1.jpg 1x16-2.jpg 1x16-3.jpg 1x16-4.jpg 1x16-5.jpg 1x16-6.jpg 1x16-7.jpg 1x16-8.jpg See Also Category:Episodes